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Adding a few YouTube videos to your website, or going beyond that and creating your own YouTube channel, is a great way to promote your business. You can create a video tour of houses that you have for sale, get a few happy mortgage clients involved in a video testimonial, or even show potential clients around your office — everything from your neat (or rather messy desk) to the lunchroom can be featured.

Before you whip out your video camera and start shooting, make sure that you have a plan in place. There are a lot of videos available on the web, and the best way to guarantee that yours will be ignored is by uploading a fuzzy, unfocused 9 minute video that never gets to the point. Here are some great tips to follow:

Keep it short – Under two minutes is recommended, although you can go as long as five or six, depending on your subject matter. This is a promotional video, not a scene-by-scene remake of Citizen Kane, so determine how long it will take to get your point across and then stick to that time limit.

Make sure that each video has a purpose – Think of them as mini-movies. You should have a distinct beginning, middle and end, and can create “cards” with a title and list of credits with most digital video software. While you do not need to have a script to follow or even an exact outline describing each shot, you still should have a general idea of what will be filmed and what you will say before the camera starts rolling.

Pay attention of the background, setting and lighting – The last thing that you need is a promotional video for a house that you’re selling that features a large pile of garbage in the background. Neaten everything up as much as possible. It’s always best to shoot outdoors in real sunlight, but good indoor lighting will work as well. You just don’t want it to be too dark, or no one will be able to see what you’ve filmed.

Share the video – Post links to it everywhere (on your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook Business Pages) and embed it on your blog and main business website. If you create your own YouTube channel, cross link it with everything else in order to generate some traffic.